A fair wind, a rising tide, and four broken promises….

Hajime…. Oh, right. A.A.L.I.H.O.M.* = Already A Legend In Her Own Mind…. Wait ’till I figure out how post videos of her; you’ll either all be sick of her in no time, or she’ll become an internet sensation, make us both rich, and take us out of reach of the worst aspects of reality. Hey, who knows? It could happen, right? Sure.

Well, perhaps, until then, we’ll find something else to discuss. It might be tricky finding it in THIS brain, as I’m quite sure all the ones wobbling around in there just now are suspect, in some fashion or another. But, then, if not this brain, whose, may I ask? Why, nobody’s of course, or, in our case, everybody’s. Ooh, that’s subtle, isn’t it? I should be more careful; I could hurt myself with something that sharp so early in the process. I hate blood on the keyboard.

Why, golly…. I seem to be completely unable to find any sort of rhythm, direction, style, or mode that will get us anywhere. Everything so far has gotten us nowhere, if you don’t count further down the page. Even that is minuscule, in relation to, well, just about anything bigger than a doll’s severed head. Gotta be careful with those, too; they’ll talk to ya, try to fool ya into doing weird stuff. Better than leaving the head in place, though. You don’t want to know.

I’m certain now I don’t want to know anymore, either. In fact, if pressed, I’ll never admit I did, so don’t count on me as a corroborating witness, unless you’re talking about witnessing consistent examples of rampant stupidity, about which I’ll testify at the drop of a cliche. But, for now, you lucked out because I’m sick of this shit. It just won’t gel, and what’s a morning Pearls without a bit of gel, I ask you? So, without even waiting for Luigi to get here, I’m taking us out to the oyster beds myownself. Don’t worry, I’ve completed MOST of the course now; what could happen?

Shall we Pearl?….

Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” — Erica Jong

********************************

“After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

Jethro Tull was another iconic rock band from the 1960’s & early 70’s, famous for hard, driving, rambunctious shows led by their charismatic lead singer and legendary flutist, Ian Anderson. I hope you enjoy another trip down my memory lane; never got to see them live, but, never missed a broadcast of their concerts on fm radio…. A rocking good time, ffolkes…. As we said then, dig it….

Oddly enough, I got a little sleep last night, near dawn. But, I still don’t have the wherewithal to produce anything particularly cogent, so, I’m sublimating with something from the archives. It’s a long one, but, worth another read, if only because the same shit, but a different day, is still going on; only the dates have changed…..

“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” — Thomas Jefferson

Now, a bit of insanity, on the identical subject, from a more modern source….

“By all accounts, though, an end seems near for the impasse that has once again exposed a government so divided that it sometimes borders on dysfunction. Though the House failed to muster sufficient support for a conservatives-only bill in the GOP-majority chamber on Tuesday, enough Republicans there seem likely to join House Democrats to approve a bipartisan version if it can be approved by the Senate and sent to them. ”
http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Senators-closing-in-on-deal-to-reopen-government-4895884.php

I was reading the news last night, online, and the latest reports from the capitol say that a deal will get done prior to today’s deadline…. as it always does…. The difference in the deals that get done and those that don’t get done are relatively insignificant, in terms of real life; they only make a difference to those involved in whatever struggle is current. Nobody really understands any of it anyway… not the politicians who spout all the platitudes and figures, not the experts who supply the detailed analysis of those figures, and certainly not the public, who don’t even WANT to understand the complexities…. which is something the pundits know well, and, in fact, depend on to assist them in their endeavors…

“Morality is a private and costly luxury.” — Smart Bee

Sadly, this statement, though found without attribution, was made by an observer who knows human nature well, one who has obviously observed our history closely, drawing from those observations the only possible conclusion…. Society, as exemplified by its leaders, in both the secular and clerical arenas, loudly and boldly tout the twin concepts of morality and ethics, laying claim to them as if they were a coat left lying about. The noise they make in making these claims is generally quite noisome, to my ears, but, serves to cover their asses when later accused of impropriety; they can point to their strident statements as being proof of sincerity, though, logically, sincerity and morality have no real connection.

However, sad as the statement is, it is accurate, and never more so when looking at the budget crisis that we are witnessing today. The assholes who inhabit Congress, especially the conservatives in the House of Representatives, ( an oxymoron, if I’ve ever heard one…. ), DO NOT represent the people who elected them, not even close…. They lie to them, they steal from them, they follow their own agendas, but, they DON’T represent them…

How can they? They are not even in the same economic class as most of them, and never have been…. and, please, DON’T try to tell me you don’t think we have economic classes in this society…. Sorry, ffolkes, but American society is NOT classless, and never has been…. It has ALWAYS been separated into classes, based primarily on economic factors, with those who have more money having more influence and, more importantly, more rights, than those with less money…. The most cursory examination of history, of the world, and of this country, will show this as a fact of little possibility of dispute.

The average US income (which doesn’t give a completely accurate picture, but is useful to make the point….) is somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars ($10, 001 to $99,999, somewhere between the two….). This translates into a basic demographic breakdown of being a very few people making more than they need to survive, as contrasted by a very large number of people who are struggling to even eat on a daily basis…. This accounts for 99% of the population, and about 1% of the actual money available to that 99%….

On the other side of that coin, we have a few thousand people, the remaining 1%, who have 99% of the money, all making more than a million dollars a year, on average…. Of this small percentage, we find that ALL of the Senators, about half of the House members, and the President, of course, are all part of that 1% of the population, a part that has never had to worry about where their next meal came from…. I wish that this were not true, but, these are facts, with the supporting evidence available to anyone with a library card, so they can go there to look up the numbers….

Of course, the fact that they are “more successful” in economic terms is only proof, in their minds, of their inherent right to make the decisions for everyone else in the country, even though they have no real grasp of the needs of those people. The fact of their disconnection from reality cannot penetrate their sense of entitlement, and they fully BELIEVE in their own mandate…. “Somehow, it never hurts to step back occasionally and ask yourself “Am I contributing to the solution of the problem or aiding in making a bigger problem?”…. this is a process, and a question, that never occurs to them…

This is why I call them delusional, and can honestly claim that I believe them to be clinically insane; a person so disconnected to what is real cannot be considered sane…. except, perhaps, in an insane society. Making assumptions about having the right to decide about the wants and needs of others is a sure sign that one has an unreasonable belief in their own importance to the universe, an assumption that can only be termed as a delusion. This kind of behavior is one society cannot afford to allow, because, if nothing else, these types of delusions are dangerous to the rest of us. Allowing these “crazies”, for wont of a more accurate term, to act out their fantasies in the real world tends to lead to trouble for more than just themselves…..

“Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and so was he. But we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act v, Sc. 4

I’m down, and out of breath, from shouting into the wind, at the mountain… A futile task, at best, I know, but, what else can one do at 5 AM? Mountain moving is my specialty, after all…. The truth of the matter is, after two hours by Shrewsbury clock, I’m tired of shouting at the mountain; it’s hard work, to little effect. I suppose it’s all I can do, and that is why I do it…. It’s cheaper, and, in the long run, less troublesome to my spirit and karma, than going out, buying a gun, and making a list of targets…. Less chance of getting shot back at, too…

There comes a time, however, when even I must admit to the futility of this particular task, and grow a bit discouraged…. I’m just not the kind of person who can give up completely, though, so, I’ll be back to rant on this subject another time…. “They” are always out there doing something on which I can comment. For the time being, I’ll leave you with this final lament…

“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire

********************************

Made from broken bricks and spit….

I could dodge a bullet train, easy,if I could find one to dodge.They aren’t so easy to find, you knowin so unloaded a station as this.

It isn’t like I don’t appreciate the effort; it isn’t much of a goal anyway.I only made it up that way to seeif anyone was listening to me.

I never know, you see,behind all these electrons.I can only wish for magic to exist;it’s the only wish I have left.

Wishes make me think of horses.Funny, huh?Maybe by the end of this stanzaI’ll find a poem.

Nah.But I don’t care anymore.If I did,it would sing like the moon in November

Mightier than the swordI take up my pen.Oops.Sword bought a gun.

Try NOT to laugh.

~~ gigoid ~~

Kinda strange, huh?…. Well, you would be too, in my state…. Fuck it; I like it…. Does that make me perverse? So be it.

********************************

I like this one, and not just because it came together fairly easily (SB seems to be in a good space lately ~~ Yay!). No, it’s because it seems to be about the beautiful humor and sad irony that epitomizes so much in the average Life at Large of most human beings. As with any assessment, necessarily a generalization to some extent, this one probably has exceptions. But, I will point out that only helps to validate the connection there is to Truth in what I suggest. In any case, each one is worth the reading, so, that’s enough for me…..

This cowboy looked at me and said With a sort of a smile, A sorry hand is in the way all the time, A good one just once in awhile.

~~- Cowgirl poet Georgie Sicking ~~

“Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least.” — Edward Abbey

“If you turn on your side after the hour at which you ought to rise, it is all over. Bolt up at once.” — Sir Walter Scott

“A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.” — Jean Rostand

“In a fight you don’t stop to choose your cudgels.” — Skilled Bee

“Word is a shadow of deed.” — Democritus (400 BC)

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe

“If you can’t solve it, it’s not a problem — it’s a reality that needs to be faced.” — Barbara Coloroso

“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.”

~~ Hermann Hesse ~~

********************************

Not bad at all, if one may consider all things, especially given my current mental state. Fragile is probably the kindest way to describe it, and, for the purpose of keeping to our purpose here, I won’t go into that any further. After all, this IS the ending, right? No time to start up new shit. I can say, though, I will be back again, because, in spite of how good this one may or may not be, it sure ain’t perfect yet…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; plenty of folks have tried to stop me, and all have died….

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you;Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richyand everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.When I sits, I sits loose.When I thinks, I falls asleep.

3 thoughts on “A fair wind, a rising tide, and four broken promises….”

“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire

good one…..
things do not change then ?

Who among us has not dreamt, in moments of ambition, of the miracle of a poetic prose, musical without rhythm and rhyme, supple and staccato enough to adapt to the lyrical stirrings of the soul, the undulations of dreams, and sudden leaps of consciousness. This obsessive idea is above all a child of giant cities, of the intersecting of their myriad relations.
— Dedication of Le Spleen de Paris
same guy…grin

If one were to go back through all the quotes I’ve used here on ECR over the past four plus years, picking out those made prior to the year 100 AD (ie, over 2000 years old, or more) they would find almost every one could have been uttered today, as it addresses an issue of the time in which it was made, and with which we are still contending in today’s world. That simple fact tells me we humans have NOT learned anything important in the past 2000 years; everything we knew then is still applicable today. The only difference is we have better dentistry….

So, no, the big picture doesn’t change a whole lot over time; it’s only individual moments in time where we experience the rapidity of social changes, without, apparently, ever grasping the simple way to avoid the whole issue, to choose the honorable path, of compassion, over the easy, expedient path of predation.

Baudelaire was a pretty savvy character, from all I could see. His main trouble was being French, which carries with it a certain arrogance that is detrimental to their ultimate depth of penetration of mystery. It’s too important to be French, before being human…

Boy, you pushed my button; didn’t know it was out there to get pushed….